


Lost in the Woods

by Mirrored_Illusions



Series: 2017 August Fic-A-Day [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Criminal Minds (US TV), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: 2017 August Fic-A-Day, Angst, Apocalypse, Crossover, Gen, Post-Canon, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 08, Twisting The Hellmouth Fic-a-Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-09 23:26:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11679291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirrored_Illusions/pseuds/Mirrored_Illusions
Summary: Buffy follows a Slayer Dream and finds a little girl in a forest, surrounded by the walking dead.





	1. Lost in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2017 August Fic-A-Day at Twisting the Hellmouth's TwistedShorts on LJ.  
> This entry is for August 1st.
> 
> Not beta-read.  
> Joss owns BtVS and someone who isn't me own TWD.

Buffy was walking along the edge of a forest when a loud scream suddenly broke the silence. She immediately turned and began running before the screamer, a young girl by the sounds of it, had to stop to draw another breath. As she came closer she heard the tell-tale sounds of a small herd of walkers; shuffling feet and groans at the prospect of living flesh to consume.

The Slayer was only out in this particular forest because she'd had a Slayer Dream the night before, the first one since before this new kind of undead began claiming victims, and she had temporarily left her own group to save a preteen girl from the walking dead. Maybe even get her to join their little group if she didn't have anyone else.

Buffy's group was a small one, only seven people, including herself and Faith, but they were alive and intended to stay that way. Faith had wanted to come with her once Buffy had explained what she'd dreamt about and what she intended to do about it, but someone had to stay and keep an eye on the other five people. So her fellow Slayer was on babysitting duty while Buffy followed a vague Dream the PTB had sent her.

Shortly after she began running she broke through the trees and into a small clearing. The first thing she saw was the group of walkers, between eight and ten she guessed before she saw what they were gathered around and were trying to reach. At the same time, the girl began screaming again and Buffy put on a burst of speed as she swung the Scythe up and sliced the head off of several corpses before they had even noticed her presence.

Thankfully the girl had had the bright idea to climb up a tree, but she wasn't really all that high up - just high enough that their hands couldn't reach her dangling feet. Thankfully none of them seemed to have enough muscle memory for climbing, which probably meant that they were among the earlier victims. Her perch was precarious though and the walkers were relentless. And judging by her appearance she'd been up there for a while. Her whole body screamed of exhaustion and Buffy was willing to bet quite a lot that she was hungry and extremely thirsty.

The girl didn't notice her until she had partially decapitated four of the walkers surrounding her, but when she did see her a look of extreme relief came over her face and she withdrew her legs and curled up tighter on her tree branch, while she regarded the Slayer killing all thirteen of her would-be killers.

It wasn't until all the walkers were lying still on the ground that Buffy was able to get a proper look at the child. She was young, but a little older than Buffy had expected. A preteen rather than the young child she'd expected. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with a rainbow on the front and light brown pants with a pair of dirty white tennis shoes on her feet. Her hair was a light brown/dark blonde and reached just above her shoulders.

"Hi!" The Slayer said as she gave a friendly smile. "My name is Buffy. Do you want to come down from that tree now? I have water and some food, I'm sure you're thirsty by now."

Buffy had specifically brought several bottles of water just for this young girl, and she'd also brought some old packages of crisp bread for her to eat. It held longer than regular bread. Buffy smiled encouragingly at the little girl and the girl gave her a small hesitant smile in return before she took a good look around, presumably to check for walkers, and then she began to carefully climb down the tree.

When she reached the ground and had turned to face Buffy the older blonde asked, "What's your name? Mine's Buffy." She had already given her own name but it couldn't hurt to repeat it.

"Sophia". Her voice was soft and she looked both nervous and relieved to find an adult, but there was also suspicion. Good. It gave her a better chance at survival.

"Do you have a family or someone to look after you?"

Sophia nodded but didn't speak.

"Do you know where they are, which direction? If you do I can help you get there and make sure you don't get cornered by the walkers again."

"They're on the highway. The RV broke down, I got lost, and then they were everywhere."

Buffy correctly assumed that 'they' meant 'walkers' since Sophia got distressed when she got to that part.

"That's okay." Buffy smiled gently at her before she continued. "Follow me, and we'll find your family."

She then reached out her hand to the little girl, which she took a little hesitantly, and they began walking towards the road Buffy had seen in the distance earlier.


	2. The First Fence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover: The Walking Dead & Criminal Minds  
> Timeline: Post-Chosen, S3 for TWD, between S7&8 or early S8 for CM. Assuming TWD begins in 2012.  
> Disclaimer: Property of Joss and whoever owns TWD & CM.  
> Notes: Follows 'Lost in the Woods'. Sophia was lost in the woods on Day +66 after the Global Outbreak. I've skipped S2 and the whole time on the Greene Farm. This begins on Day +300, or the first ep of S3.  
> \- Written for the 2017 August FaD, Day 6.

"It's a prison," Stephen deadpanned in an annoyed voice when Rick showed them the building.  
  
"It's a prison with a bunch of walkers outside, and probably even more inside," Faith added in an irritated voice. She was probably forcefully reminded of her own stay in one of California's correctional facilities. Not a good thing for her state of mind. "I won't live in a cage." Buffy silently agreed but chose not to comment. Aside from the prison part, it was a good temporary place to stay if you ignored how visible it was and how easy targets they would be if they camped there. Anyone with a good rifle could hide in the forest and use them for target practice and chances were they wouldn't know until someone was already dead. And that was if you didn't account for all the stray walkers who would no doubt congregate around the outer fence because of the commotion two dozen people would make.  
  
The argument escalated from there but in the end, they decided that the two Slayers would clear the field using the Scythe and Faith's sword. Rick would join them with a long-bladed knife and Daryl would cover them with his crossbow. Over the long winter, the two women had proven themselves as extremely capable fighters and because of this, no one contested Buffy's plan. While the four of them ran over to the gate on the other side the rest of the group spaced themselves around the fence and tried to attract the walkers and then stab them in the head with their knives or other sharp objects. All the yelling sounded odd to Buffy, she'd gotten used to everyone trying to be quiet so they wouldn't attract anything.  
  
The walkers had been undead for nearly a year by the looks of it and had most likely not been able to feed on anyone during the intervening time. It meant they were slow and easy to kill. What made them dangerous was how many there were. Still, the Chosen Two got some exercise and an outlet for their bloodlust, and the group got a semi-safe place to stay for the night. It also meant they saved their bullets, which was good for two things; one there were a limited number of them and therefore needed to be used sparingly, and second, it meant less loud noises so they wouldn't attract even more of the walking dead. Both good things as far as they were concerned.  
  
There were only twenty of them now; the Grimes family, the Greene family, Andrea, Glenn, Daryl, Carol and her daughter Sophia, T-Dog, Jimmy, JJ and her son Henry, Steve, Lenny, Leighanne, and the two Slayers.  
  
The group had lost four people while escaping from the Greene Farm, which was a lot better than it sounded given the huge herd which had somehow managed to sneak up on them without anyone noticing until they were already nearly surrounded. Before that, they had lost another two people. The last she'd seen of it had been the main house engulfed in flames. Only a little bit of pre-planning on Faith's part had ensured they all ended up at the same place afterward.  
  
Faith had taken one look at the open area and insisted on several escape plans if, or rather, *when* the walkers would show up. After having the obvious pointed out to them, namely the open farm with little or no fencing to protect them, they all agreed to a backup plan if/when something would go wrong. All the plans included a rendezvous point in case someone got separated from the others. It was a good plan and when the farm was overrun it turned out to be a great idea as both Andrea and Jimmy had somehow ended up left behind when everyone else escaped by car. Or in the case of Daryl and Carol; on his motorcycle.  
  
Buffy and Faith had spent the winter teaching everyone, including all the children, four-year-old Henry being the only exception, to fight. They'd started with bladed weapons, continued with how to use whatever happened to be nearby as a deadly weapon if they needed it, and then they'd trained them in unarmed combat. Both Rick and JJ had helped out with the latter. Rick because he was a former sheriff and JJ because she'd been a federal agent pre-apocalypse. Faith had somehow talked Daryl into helping her teach them street fighting. Anything that would give them that little extra that would ensure they survived to see another day.  
  
In between moving around looking for something more permanent, trying to find food and water to keep everyone alive, and trying to avoid both walkers and other survivors they had also managed to learn first aid, basic hunting, how to break into houses, picking locks, how to hotwire a car, and a number of other useful things. Really, if anyone had told Buffy Summers that she would regularly break into houses and steal food a year ago she would've called them completely insane.  
  
And now they were planning to break into a prison. The mutinous expression on Faith's face didn't bode well, but there was nothing she could do about it at this point. Rick was right; it was safer than the houses and other places they had stayed so far. It had two rows of fences, a field they could grow vegetables on, and a barricaded building they could live in. It wouldn't work long-term, sooner or later the fences would fall, but for the immediate future, it would do.  
  
Her sister-Slayer wasn't the only one who disapproved of their would-be new residence; both Daryl and JJ seemed unhappy as well. Neither was difficult to guess as to the reasoning. Not that the rest of them were all that ecstatic either, but they looked more at the security it provided than its former use.  
  
They had got inside the first fence and tomorrow they would tackle the walkers inside the second fence, but for now, there was hot food and tepid water. All she really needed to do was ignore the rising tension between a heavily pregnant Lori and her estranged husband and things just might turn out okay.


	3. The Second Fence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group get inside the second fence and settle in Cellblock C.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon. TWD belongs to whoever owns the copyright.
> 
> \- Written for the 2017 August FaD, Day 19.

The next morning started early and after a light breakfast, they split into two groups. Buffy, Faith, Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and T/Dog would brave the second fence and kill the walkers inside. Everyone else would spread out on the other side of the fence and try and draw as many of the walkers over there as they could.  
  
The two Slayers would go in first and take the first wave and clear a path, while the other five would take any stragglers and surprise walkers who might show up around the corners. It was a simple plan, but it was easily adaptable to anything which might come up. Once again Buffy was armed with the Scythe and Faith had her trusty sword. The rest had machetes and other sharp objects.  
  
Rick opened the gate and the two Slayers went through, immediately decapitating a walker each before the rest had a chance to even enter the inner yard. The undead had clearly noticed their arrival and shambled in their direction only to be met with something sharp and shiny courtesy of the two women. Behind them, the other five moved in a loose circle only darting out to stab a walker in the head before quickly moving back to their original position right after. There was safety in numbers and the two Slayers had both heard the telltale shuffling of a bigger herd just out of their sight. It was one of the reasons why they were so many, instead of just letting the two women do the job by themselves.  
  
The four men and Maggie were working in tandem when needed, one person knocking a walker to the ground and the second stabbing it in the head right after before quickly going back to the circle. And all the time they made sure to keep the others in view, always watching each other's backs.  
  
In the outer yard the remaining group was yelling and shaking the second fence, trying to get the attention of the walking dead so they could kill as many of them as possible so the seven people inside the second yard could get to their goal more quickly. It was working, at least in the beginning, until they realized there were closer prey inside and moved towards them instead.  
  
When Buffy and Faith finally reached the halfway point and could look around the corner, they finally got a partial view of the rest of the herd and it was both good and bad news. On the good side, there was a third fence and most of the herd were still on the opposite side, but on the bad side, there were walkers in riot gear coming in their direction from another part of the second yard. A few seconds later another two walkers in riot gear came at them from right in front of them and to the right. Then a fifth one came out of a door to their immediate right.  
  
A quick, non-verbal conversation and Buffy ran for the third gate and kicked several walkers back inside before she reached inside a pocket and got another set of carabine hooks with a chain in the middle to secure the gate with. It was the same kind Rick had used on both the first and second gate. Meanwhile, Faith tried to kill the walkers in riot gear but only succeeded in knocking them down until she saw one of them get too close to Maggie and she stabbed it with her knife between its vest and helmet. Quickly Faith copied her and made short work of the remaining two while Glenn and T-Dog worked together to kill the last one. Then Maggie ran past them and stabbed the one Rick had knocked down but failed to kill.  
  
All of them looked around the courtyard at the dead walkers and the undead ones behind the last fence. Before Daryl pointed with one of his arrows at one of the downed corpses and commented, "That's a civilian, not a prisoner."  
  
T-Dog added, "Some of the interiors could be overrun by walkers from outside the prison."  
  
"If there are walls down, what are we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." Glenn questioned.  
  
Buffy walked back over to the group, "We need to get inside to see how bad it is and if it's possible to stay here or not. If there are a secure area and a manageable number of walkers we can kill them and stay here for a while, if the damage is too large we're leaving in the morning."  
  
Rick supported her plan, and added, "We need to secure any blind spots before deciding what to do."  
  
They walked over to a fenced in a staircase, Rick in the lead who opened the door and T-Dog bringing up the rear and closing the door behind them in case they'd missed anyone. Now was not the time for surprises. They crept silently inside the door at the top, weapons at the ready and eyes moving around checking out every corner and listening closely for any sounds from inside. Once inside the first door, there was a second barred door just behind it, which opened easily when Rick put his hand on it.  
  
It led to a short landing before continuing down to a short set of stairs before opening up into a room with two tables and with four bolted down seats to each. The entire room looked like it had been overturned despite the lack of much of anything in it; litter and other debris were strewn all over the floor. On the opposite side was a longer staircase, leading up to a watchtower. It was clearly somewhere the prisoners could meet visitors while still being observed by their guards.  
  
Faith went straight for the second staircase without a word, just a simple hand gesture indicating where she was heading and a small smirk on her face. Clearly, she knew what the room was and wanted to see what the guards had been seeing. With her sword in one hand and her senses on high alert, she climbed the stairs, occasionally looking down at the rest of the group. All of whom were investigating the lower areas for threats or anything which could be of use to them.  
  
Once inside the tower, there was yet another door, Faith found a security guard sitting in a chair with his head blown apart. Dark red splatter covered the window behind him. She carefully poked him with her sword to made sure he wasn't going to get back up and then she stole his keys.  
  
The group moved on and found Cellblock C where Faith used her newly acquired keys to open the barred door. All seven of them moved carefully into the corridor with their weapons up and their attention on full alert. The cell doors in front of them were open and like the previous rooms, there was litter and debris covering the floor. As they carefully investigated each cell from the outside they found a number of corpses inside with more blood spatter behind them.  
  
On the walkway above was a half-floor were another row of cells and a couple of them even had walkers in them, both eager for fresh meat. Both were stabbed in the head by Rick and Daryl while Glenn and T-Dog went outside to get the rest of their group. The corpses were removed from all of the cells and thrown outside for the time being, and everyone chose a cell to call 'home' until further notice.  
  
Maggie and Glenn decided to 'room' together, Lori and Carl took one, Carol and Sophia settled in another, and so on. Except for Daryl, Faith, and Buffy who all chose to sleep on the perch as none of them wanted the illusion of being locked up. The first two due to previous prison sentences and Buffy because she was flashing back to her short stay in a mental hospital. None of them were good memories in any way.  
  
Everyone settled in for the night, for now, this was home. Unless it turned out that the rest of the structure was either unsafe or there were more walkers than they could or wanted to deal with.


	4. Life Goes On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Slayers and their backup begin to clear the prison and find survivors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon. TWD and CM belong to whoever owns the copyright.
> 
> Written for the 2017 August FaD, Day 27.

The next morning they all got up with the rising sun and ate an early breakfast. They didn't have much, but with a heavily pregnant woman and another woman who had given birth less than a month prior, there really was no choice but to ensure they at least got everything they needed. Baby food, baby clothes, and other related items were a high priority on their 'shopping' list every time they went on a food run. The second priority was the three older children in the group. Everyone else came after that.

To everyone's relief, JJ's pregnancy had been much smoother than Lori's and she was now the proud new mother of a baby girl she had chosen to name Savannah, and five-year-old Henry was now an equally proud big brother. No one had said anything about the no doubt deceased father of the two children and focused instead on the happy event. Celebrating the arrival of a new life when the dead were all around them had lifted their spirits a lot in the time since. It gave them hope.

After a quick brainstorming, once they'd finished eating, it was decided that all the children (Henry, Savannah, Carl, and Sophia) were all staying in Cellblock C along with JJ, Lori, Carol, Beth and her boyfriend Jimmy. The adults were on a combined babysitting duty and cleaning and decorating duty. It was nothing less than an attempt to make the cellblock looking less like what it really was and more like a home, just in case they were staying there for a while.

Andrea, Lenny, Leighanne, and Stephen would go outside and put the walkers into stacks for burning later. All of them would be placed in the outer yard, so as to be as far away from them as possible. If they had the time they were also to kill as many of the walkers outside the first fence as they could. They would arrange for a group to collect all of them at a later point, but they needed to get rid of them as soon as possible since walkers tended to attract other walkers. The last thing they needed was to be surrounded again, and for all that the fences were built to keep male prisoners inside, they were not made for the relentless pushing of the undead. That meant they needed to regularly kill all the walkers who arrived outside in order to keep their fence standing for as long as possible.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Faith were organizing the remaining people into what was something in between a strike force and a team of explorers. Granted, they weren't searching for treasure, at least not in the common use of the word, but they were looking for the infirmary and it's hopefully fully stocked storage of medicine. They were also hoping to find the cafeteria and a storage of food. Both pursuits were equally important.

As Buffy and Faith were discussing tactics, Rick, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, and T-Dog were putting on the bulletproof vests they had removed from the riot walkers they had killed between the second and third fences. There weren't enough for all of them so both of the Slayers chose to go without, despite there being one extra after they vetoed Hershel's attempt to join them. He was their only doctor and they couldn't afford him going into such a risky situation without good reason.

The last vest was instead given to Andrea since she was one of the people who might be at risk outside while working with the dead walkers. If needed they could switch, depending on who was in the most dangerous situation.

"Okay, everyone!" Buffy raised her voice to be heard over all of the planning and chatting going on around her. "Are everyone clear on what your job is today?" At the affirmative nods and replies, she continued, "Right then. Those of you going outside to work on the dead geeks can leave now. Remember to be careful, we might have missed some of them and they could still bite or scratch you. Make sure that all the walkers you touch have had their brain destroyed, and if you're not sure use a knife or something else to stab it with. Always keep at least one person on the lookout, you don't want to be caught unaware. We can't afford to lose anyone, so please, be careful."

"We'll be careful. But you and the others going deeper into the prison are at a bigger risk since we already know there are more walkers inside this building." Andrea's expressive eyes were mirroring her concerned words. The past winter had calmed her down some, particularly as she got more proficient with the various weapons and fighting techniques. Not having to listen to her trying to be 'one of the boys' was a relief. It also helped that she had gotten to grieve for her sister properly.

A few more words were exchanged before Andrea took her group and went outside to begin working. Inside Cellblock C Buffy and Faith gathered their group and moved out. The two Slayers were in the front, ready to kill anything that moved or which shouldn't be able to move but had an intact head. It was better going for overkill in this than lose even more people to something that could've been easily avoided.

Daryl moved to the front and unlocked a barred door leading into another hallway and they carefully walked inside, flashlights lightening up a small area in front of them. The two Slayers moved back to the front and then took first one right turn and then a second before they came into another hallway. The new hallway had at least three corpses, two of which appeared to have been partially eaten, and the third seemed to simply be dead.

The two women used their sharp and shiny weapons to penetrate the brain of the first two bodies before Faith stepped carefully forward and stabbed the third in the forehead with her sword to be on the safe side. Behind them, Glenn used a spray can to paint an arrow on the wall so they could find the right way back to where they came from. As they moved forward they found another partially eaten body in front of an open barred door, and Faith stabbed that one in the head as well.

Faith took point when they turned the next corner and Buffy backed her up, her Scythe at the ready. The next hallway had another two corpses and even more debris. They made short work of the bodies and carefully moved on while the rest of the group followed. The two next corners were clear of anything except for some small amounts of trash, but both of the Slayers could hear the walkers beyond that point and used hand signals to get everyone to back up a bit.

Faith began explaining the situation in a low whisper once they were far enough away. "There are a group of walkers around the second right corner, at least six of them. Maybe more." She gave the group a serious look, "B and I will go in first and slay them, the rest of you stay here until we come back and tell you it's clear. Got it?"

At the groups' silent acceptance, she switched her sword for a machete. It was easier to wield in the small space available. Buffy kept the Scythe but made sure her own machete was within easy reach in case she needed it, and she patted her thigh to confirm that her knife was still in its sheath. In her peripheral view, she saw Faith make sure she could get to her sword if need be and also that her other knife was where it was supposed to be. A quick, silent plan was made using facial expressions and body language only and they were off, this time with Buffy in the lead and Faith covering her.

They crept silently forward and around the first corner and then Buffy went closer to the right wall as they were about to turn right for the second time, while Faith took the wider turn to cover her. They made eye-contact and then on a silent three-count they took the turn and moved forward at a speed only a Slayer could accomplish. Three of the geeks were dead before the rest could react and then they groaned in greeting and shambled towards their final death as the two women sliced and stabbed them.

They quickly realized they had miscounted as there turned out to be a lot more than six of them and even worse there were more coming from the other corridors, including from behind the rest of the group. By the time they had dispatched of what turned out to be over 15 walkers in the original corridor, and gotten back to where they'd left the group they had gone. Both of them extended their hearing to find out which direction they had gone in and only heard more groaning and shuffling feet. Silently they decided to go for the walkers, in the hope that the others had gotten inside a room or a closet. A lack of screaming supported the theory. If they had gotten inside they could be retrieved later, but for now, there were undead who needed to be killed.

The next ten minutes were spent slicing and dicing the geeks who came shambling towards them, and stabbing the ones on the ground, as they moved from corridor to corridor while keeping an ear out for the others. When everything was finally silent again they began going from door to door, alternately opening and covering each other, and looking inside for more walkers to kill and the missing members of their so-called strike force. Mostly they only found more walkers and in some cases actual corpses, before they finally found Glenn and Maggie hiding in a closet.

As soon as Buffy saw who was inside she said, "Come on you two, we've cleared the way. Where did the others go and why are you two alone?"

"We were forced in different directions when we came to a corner and they were suddenly in front of us, blocking us off from both the front and the side. In all the confusion we didn't see where the others went. We were too busy looking out for each other and getting away."

As Glenn inhaled so he could continue, Maggie interrupted, "Did you see the others?"

"No. We haven't seen anyone since we re-grouped to take out the first walkers."

Faith continued from where Buffy left off, "We've been slaying all the geeks we've found, and going through all the doors to check for more. The hallway behind us is clear, so we'll go forward. We haven't heard any screaming so they're here somewhere, probably hiding in a closet just like you." She smirked at the couple, who just sighed in exasperation at her continued teasing.

They re-grouped and moved forward, Buffy taking the lead and Faith bringing up the rear with their resident couple in the middle. Two hallways further down and half a dozen doors later, they came to a set of doors with a pair of broken handcuffs on the door handles. Inside the Chosen Two could hear talking, and not all of the voices were familiar to them.

"Stop," Buffy ordered in a low voice. "They're in there, but there are at least three other people as well."

"Live ones?" The surprise in Glenn's voice was echoed on Maggie's face.

"Yes. Lives ones. Probably either prisoners who'd been locked in when all hell broke loose, which means there's food in there, or they're other survivors who didn't bother to clear out the prison before moving in."

While Faith had been talking Buffy began moving silently towards the doors while listening intently. "They seem to be at an impasse. The prisoners don't seem to be aware of the apocalypse, and have been expecting the National Guard to show up."

Maggie and Glenn gave Buffy an incredulous look, "From what they're saying they've been locked in the cafeteria for ten months and have no idea about the walkers. Just that there's been something outside the door."

"Are all of them in there?"

"Yeah, they're all in there. Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog." While answering the question Faith had moved up beside Buffy and exchanged her machete for the sword. Presumably, because there would be more space inside, and it had a better reach.

Faith lifted her hand, and in a show of good manners, knocked on the door in front of her instead of just trying to open it. Buffy couldn't help but laugh softly at the irony of that, but otherwise kept quiet.

A set of footsteps moved towards the door on the other side and when they were close enough they heard T-Dog ask, "Who's there?"

"Your friendly neighborhood Slayers, and the kissing couple."

They heard a snort and then something being put on the ground before something else was removed from blocking the door handles, and then the door was open. No one in the group knew why they were calling themselves Slayers, they simply took it to mean it was related to their ability to kill a lot of the undead. The walker variety, not vampires. Strangely enough, they hadn't seen a single vampire, or demon for that matter, since about a week before the global outbreak. The leading theory was that the walker infection was somehow stronger than the demons who took over the human bodies who would otherwise have become vampires.

Buffy had spoken to Angel in person nine days before the global outbreak had become official since she was passing through Los Angeles, and he had seemed fine. Nothing had appeared out of the ordinary with him, but when she'd tried to call him on the phone five days later she'd only gotten Cordelia on the line. According to her Angel seemed to simply have vanished three nights prior. He'd gone out to get more blood from the blood bank and never returned. Wesley had been bitten and turned into a walker two days later, and now she and the rest had locked themselves into the Hyperion and barricaded it to the best of their abilities. That had been the last time she'd been able to reach them.

When they entered the cafeteria they saw Daryl having a group of five men at arrow point. One of the men, a Hispanic looking one, had a small hand gun pointed at him in return. Slightly behind him and to the sides were three black men and a blond man with a mustache. Rick was on Daryl's opposite side holding a gun at the prisoners, and T-Dog had clearly been between Daryl and the door.

Buffy smiled at everyone while Maggie and Glenn went behind her and Faith to check up on the other three. "What's going on here?"

"You're making yourself comfortable in my house and need to get gone. That's what, little girl."

"Hey!" Buffy huffed in pretend indignantly, "I'm not a little girl, just a little on the short side."

From there, things went a little south until Rick agreed to let them outside to see the yard, and all the dead walkers Andrea and her group were piling up for a bonfire. The shock on the prisoner's faces was short lived before Tomas, the Hispanic one, tried once again to take back the prison. An hour later another Cellblock was cleared and Big Tiny, a tall, black man, was dead after being scratched by a walker and then had his head smashed in by his group leader after Rick explained what the scratch meant for the man's life. Tomas himself was dead after having tried to kill Rick by pushing random walkers at him while they'd cleared the cellblock and the way there. In return, Rick had killed him with his machete in front of both of the groups. There was showing mercy and then there was being stupid, and Tomas had already shown them that he was unstable and violent.

In retaliation one of the others, Andrew, Tomas's right-hand man, had attempted to attack Rick before running away. When Rick had returned a while later he told them the other man had run into yet another courtyard with a few walkers in it, and that Rick had simply locked him in there. He hadn't waited to find out if the man survived the meeting with the undead or not, just left him in there and returned to the others.

Buffy's group then lead the remaining two prisoners, Axel, the blond with the mustache, and Oscar to Cellblock B, where they were met by the sight of every single prisoner lying dead on the floor, with their hands zipped behind the back, and a gunshot to the head.

"You're gonna leave us in here with all the corpses?" The surprised question came from Axel. "That's sick. Really, really sick!"

"If you think that's bad, you should try leaving and see how things are outside. The corpses aren't just lying harmlessly on the ground, they're walking around in increasingly large herds just looking for someone else to eat. You're free to leave if you want, or you can stay here." Faith didn't care, and if Buffy was honest she didn't either. They already had a lot of people to protect, they didn't need any convicts. Faith, and probably Daryl, notwithstanding.

Before they left them there, T-Dog decided to give them a piece of advice. "Take those bodies outside and burn them."

They locked the door behind them and returned to the others. Only time would tell if allowing them to stay was a good idea or not, but just killing them in cold blood wasn't an option. They weren't quite there yet.


End file.
